Butterfly GardenMany of us find It fascinating to watch butterflies as they flit from flower to flower. They are beautiful, delicate creatures. But they aren&rsquot just beauties, they also pollinate flowers. There are over 170 different species of butterflies in North Carolina. Wouldn&rsquot it be nice to have a few of them spend time in your garden? Here are some ways you can attract butterflies to your yard.

Grow caterpillars to get butterflies.

As strange as that sounds, you want to grow caterpillars. Caterpillars turn into butterflies as adults. So if you don&rsquot have caterpillars, you won&rsquot have many butterflies. To grow caterpillars, you need the right host plants. These plants include clover, honeysuckle, peas, violets, milkweed, pipevine, sunflower, wisteria, aster, and fruit trees among others. Your local nursery can advise you on the best plants for your area.

Grow flowering plants to attract the butterflies.

Butterflies feed on the nectar of plants. Plant flowering plants that are native to your area. Select plants that have bright flowers. Butterflies are attracted to red, yellow, orange, pink, and purple flowers. They should have fairly flat tops and short flower tubes. Plant them in an area that receives sunlight from mid-morning to mid-afternoon. Butterflies like to feed in the sun.

Aim for continuous blooming of flowers, so that as one species dies out a new one is blooming. That way, the butterflies will have a continuous source of nectar and won&rsquot have to leave your garden to look for food elsewhere.

There are dozens of flowering plants that are favored by butterflies. Some common blooming flowers that attract butterflies include asters, marigolds, azalea, lilacs, butterfly bush, and blueberry, among others. Again, your nursery can advise you on the best flowering plants for your area.

Don't use insecticides in your garden.

Insecticides will usually kill the caterpillars, eliminating any chance of growing butterflies. Keep all pesticides away from your garden, Butterfly Spreading Pollenespecially Malathion, Sevin, and diazinon. These three pesticides will kill butterflies.

Provide additional aids to make your butterflies comfortable.

Butterflies like the sun and warm weather. They don&rsquot usually appear until the spring, when temperatures exceed 60 degrees. But they prefer temperatures in the 85 to 100 degree range. When the temperature goes below that range, they look for a flat rock in the sun to stretch their wings and warm up. So, provide them with one or two flat rocks in your garden that will get a lot of sun.

Butterflies also need a source of water. A shallow birdbath can work. Or you can place shallow pans containing sand and enough water to make the sand moist in sunny spots around the garden. Make sure to keep the sand moist throughout the summer.

It's not hard to keep them coming back.

Most butterflies, except for the migratory Monarch butterfly, hibernate in the area where they spend the summer. Some of them hibernate as grown butterflies, others as pupa or caterpillars. They tend to hibernate in log piles or loose bark. Sometimes they spend the winter in buildings. They can usually find places to hibernate on their own. You don&rsquot have to provide them with any place special. Then, when winter fades away, they begin the process again. And you will have a garden full of beautiful butterflies year after year. You&rsquoll also have created an attractive outdoor space which can only add value to your home.

If you are considering buying or selling a home, then send us a message or give us a call. My partner Andrew Palumbo and I both have extensive real estate and construction experience.

Posted by Larry Tollen on
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